Preview — Emma Goldman by Vivian Gornick

Emma Goldman is the story of a modern radical who took seriously the idea that inner liberation is the first business of social revolution. Her politics, from beginning to end, was based on resistance to that which thwarted the free development of the inner self. The right to stay alive in one’s senses, to enjoy freedom of thought and speech, to reject the arbitrary use ofEmma Goldman is the story of a modern radical who took seriously the idea that inner liberation is the first business of social revolution. Her politics, from beginning to end, was based on resistance to that which thwarted the free development of the inner self. The right to stay alive in one’s senses, to enjoy freedom of thought and speech, to reject the arbitrary use of power—these were key demands in the many public protest movements she helped mount.

Anarchist par excellence, Goldman is one of the memorable political figures of our time, not because of her gift for theory or analysis or even strategy, but because some extraordinary force of life in her burned, without rest or respite, on behalf of human integrity—and she was able to make the thousands of people who, for decades on end, flocked to her lectures, feel intimately connected to the pain inherent in the abuse of that integrity. To hear Emma describe, in language as magnetic as it was illuminating, what the boot felt like on the neck, was to experience the mythic quality of organized oppression. As the women and men in her audience listened to her, the homeliness of their own small lives became invested with a sense of drama that acted as a catalyst for the wild, vagrant hope that things need not always be as they were. All you had to do, she promised, was resist. In time, she herself would become a world-famous symbol for the spirit of resistance to the power of institutional authority over the lone individual.

In Emma Goldman, Vivian Gornick draws a surpassingly intimate and insightful portrait of a woman of heroic proportions whose performance on the stage of history did what Tolstoy said a work of art should do: it made people love life more....more

Hardcover, 160 pages

Published
October 4th 2011
by Yale University Press
(first published January 1st 2011)

Community Reviews

A well written if somewhat unconventional biography of a fascinating woman. The author interjects her own opinions and observations about Goldman's relevance to life and radical politics today as opposed to a completely linear story of Goldman's life. And that approach worked here

While the book was short, it gives a full picture of the complexity of Goldman's life. The book contrasted one dimensional anarchists and radicals whose lives were completely consumed by politics with Goldman's love ofA well written if somewhat unconventional biography of a fascinating woman. The author interjects her own opinions and observations about Goldman's relevance to life and radical politics today as opposed to a completely linear story of Goldman's life. And that approach worked here

While the book was short, it gives a full picture of the complexity of Goldman's life. The book contrasted one dimensional anarchists and radicals whose lives were completely consumed by politics with Goldman's love of her personal life including her sexual appetite. The latter is shown by the liberal use of Goldman's sexually frank and explicit letters to lovers.

Another example of her complexity was her criticism of the Communist revolution in Russia for its repression and economic rigidity, observations that alienated her from her former political allies

The author also did an excellent time in portraying the history of Goldman's time, including the different schools of anarchist and radical thought of the time, and the differences with today's thought, without falling into a dry textbook discourse. A good read...more

So Emma Goldman was a lot more complex than I thought. Vivian Gornick delves into her early life, her passion for anarchism and free love, her romantic loves, her love of revolutions, and her great disappointments with both. No one could say Goldman wasn't courageous: she went to jail for a year (on Blackwell Island, now Roosevelt Island) for giving a fiery, seditious speech on Union Square -- and as soon as the jail house door swung open she basically gave the same speech again to her waiting sSo Emma Goldman was a lot more complex than I thought. Vivian Gornick delves into her early life, her passion for anarchism and free love, her romantic loves, her love of revolutions, and her great disappointments with both. No one could say Goldman wasn't courageous: she went to jail for a year (on Blackwell Island, now Roosevelt Island) for giving a fiery, seditious speech on Union Square -- and as soon as the jail house door swung open she basically gave the same speech again to her waiting supporters and reporters. And that was not the last time she went to prison. Deported to the Soviet Union by J. Edgar Hoover, she quickly became disillusioned with the Bolsheviks, and -- after the Kronstadt Rebellion and massacre (under Trostky), she and Sasha Berkman decided to leave, even tho they had literally no where to go. I admire Gornick's mix of the personal and political (it seems to drive home the point of Emma Goldman's philosophy "the personal is political), but I found her organization of the book slightly confusing -- for the most part it is chronological, but not always. So she gets ahead of the story from time to time, and that can be irksome. On the other hand, she has done a great job of synthesizing a great deal of writing -- Goldman's and others -- and history into a short, well written, nuanced biography of a woman we ought to know about. ...more

You get lots of gossipy stuff here like the fact that Emma was regularly whipped by her father and her mentoring by the German anarchist Most. Gornick is not kind to radical leftists, seeing them from her exalted perch of a liberal intellectual who is post-modernist done with the silliness of grand narratives. Gornicks' annoyingly obvious biases may put you off, if you know much of anything behind the history of left faction fights of the 19th and 20th centuries. And then you get unintentional aYou get lots of gossipy stuff here like the fact that Emma was regularly whipped by her father and her mentoring by the German anarchist Most. Gornick is not kind to radical leftists, seeing them from her exalted perch of a liberal intellectual who is post-modernist done with the silliness of grand narratives. Gornicks' annoyingly obvious biases may put you off, if you know much of anything behind the history of left faction fights of the 19th and 20th centuries. And then you get unintentional admissions of ignorance e.g. when Gornick calls the IWW the International Workers of the World and the attempt to label the Socialist Labor Party as being against revolution and for mere reformism. Ugh. And her portrayal of Eugene Debs as being a 'utopian socialist'.

Emma was the revolutionary subject par excellence. In my opinion, she was right to favour that stance rather than the self-sacrificing stance of say, the typical Stakonvite Stalinist militant or guilt ridden 'white skin privilege radical of today. Remember, the workers will always be ready to sacrifice to the last militant. Emma embraced the passion of life in contrast with her self-sacrificing anarchist comrades ready to put their heads in a noose and die for the 'Cause'. Hooray! She didn't really embrace class wide organisation of the proletariat and thus fell into the swamp of all those with insufficient class consciousness. But she was a rebel firmly committed to the praxis of self-emancipation and for that alone, she should be honoured, not pissed on from a bourgeois academic's perch. ...more

This is a lousy book. Gornick is completely out of her depth. Minor mistakes are revealing. For example, she mistakenly refers to the IWW as the "International Workers of the World" (the acronym stands for "Industrial Workers of the World"). Ok, fine, but it says a lot about her familiarity with the subject. Still, a minor mistake. But within the first two pages of the book, she mistakenly attributes a quote to Mikhail Bakunin that serves as a major theme of her book: "The revolutionary is a dooThis is a lousy book. Gornick is completely out of her depth. Minor mistakes are revealing. For example, she mistakenly refers to the IWW as the "International Workers of the World" (the acronym stands for "Industrial Workers of the World"). Ok, fine, but it says a lot about her familiarity with the subject. Still, a minor mistake. But within the first two pages of the book, she mistakenly attributes a quote to Mikhail Bakunin that serves as a major theme of her book: "The revolutionary is a doomed man. He has no personal interests, no business affairs, no emotions, no attachments, no property, and no name. Everything in him is wholly absorbed in the single thought and the single passion for revolution." Gornick contrasts this statement with Emma Goldman's strenuous objections to such revolutionary self-abnegation. She then repeatedly alludes throughout the book to Bakunin's supposedly grim, single-minded revolutionary outlook. The problem is, Bakunin never actually said it. These words belong to Sergei Nechaev ("The Revolutionary Catechism" [1869]), an ex-protege of Bakunin's and self-styled nihilist anarchist. The rest of the book is mediocre at best, but it's hard to take liberal pontificating seriously when the author approaches as formidable and admirable a personality as Emma Goldman and does not even bother to check basic, basic facts. I realize editorial skills are short supply, but Yale University Press should do better. Very sloppy work. *** Alternatively, there are many excellent biographies of this amazing woman - most recently the Avrich's "Sasha and Emma" from 2012 I believe, but my favorite is Richard Drinnon's classic: "Rebel in Paradise"...more

This book made me really love Emma Goldman. Did you know that Emma Goldman gave lectures for working class people on homosexuality in like 1920? Like actually. The author's writing is strange mix of dry and enthusiastic that I found very charming. The organization of the book made it a little hard to follow the chronology but I wasn't too bothered. I also was depressed by this book because Emma Goldman was ahead of her time and also... our time. All of her concerns are directly connected to theThis book made me really love Emma Goldman. Did you know that Emma Goldman gave lectures for working class people on homosexuality in like 1920? Like actually. The author's writing is strange mix of dry and enthusiastic that I found very charming. The organization of the book made it a little hard to follow the chronology but I wasn't too bothered. I also was depressed by this book because Emma Goldman was ahead of her time and also... our time. All of her concerns are directly connected to the social problems we are still dealing with! She would fit right in at OWS. Also, it is somehow comforting to know that even Emma Goldman had crazy love life problems.

This is my favorite part of the book: "Emma, absurdly enough, tried to raise money... by selling herself... But she was so awkward at it that her first night out on the street a kindly man took her into a saloon, bought her a beer, gave her ten dollars, and told her to forget it; she didn't have the knack." <3...more

Emma Goldman: Revolution as a Way of Life, by Vivian Gornick is not only a biography of one of the history’s most interesting political figures; it is also an excellent primer on anarchism. To most people anarchy is a political system without any government at all. In a political science course I took many years ago the first lesson I learned is that power is choice. Whoever has the most choices has the most power. Anarchism has to do with the distribution of choice and as a political system itEmma Goldman: Revolution as a Way of Life, by Vivian Gornick is not only a biography of one of the history’s most interesting political figures; it is also an excellent primer on anarchism. To most people anarchy is a political system without any government at all. In a political science course I took many years ago the first lesson I learned is that power is choice. Whoever has the most choices has the most power. Anarchism has to do with the distribution of choice and as a political system it goes far beyond the chaos that is implied on the surface. Actually anarchism is not so much the elimination of government as it is the elimination of control and coercion. It has to do with one’s ability to decide one’s own fate, one’s own course of action and one’s own destiny. In some regards anarchism goes beyond a simple political system (or non-system) and becomes a personal philosophy very much focused on a healthy passion for the inner life. Great importance is placed on human dignity and personal integrity. Anarchism calls for absolute freedom for every individual on earth, total self-determination at all times, in all places and under all circumstances.

Emma Goldman adopted permanent revolution as a way of life. As an activist, organizer and dynamic public speaker, she was often identified with Marxism, socialism and communism. In actuality she was a force in a movement to foster individual self-expression and independent thinking more so than a movement of social collectivism. Putting aside any step-by-step “system” of government, she envisioned a world of voluntary cooperation focusing on the common good. To her socialism was an evolutionary process growing from inside out. She felt that if you could change people, they would change the world. And the first person to be changed was oneself. From this book I gained a more intelligent understanding of anarchism as a political philosophy. But more than that I was impressed by the rebellious audacity and impassioned faith of a woman who dedicated her life to the ideals of living a life of the senses and of experience that honors the complete human being. ...more

Esteemed feminist author Vivian Gornick has produced a compelling memoir about Emma Goldman, darling of the radical anarchists and once the most feared woman in America. Red Emma came to America in 1889 and earned her living in the New York garment industry. She had a passionate nature that her father in Lithuania had tried to break unsuccessfully. She loved America and soon found her way into the radical labor and political enclaves of the time. Emma differed from all other socialists and commuEsteemed feminist author Vivian Gornick has produced a compelling memoir about Emma Goldman, darling of the radical anarchists and once the most feared woman in America. Red Emma came to America in 1889 and earned her living in the New York garment industry. She had a passionate nature that her father in Lithuania had tried to break unsuccessfully. She loved America and soon found her way into the radical labor and political enclaves of the time. Emma differed from all other socialists and communists of the time in her adamant belief that the revolution should liberate not just the economy but personal self expression and every individual. She is famous for her fiery speeches, rebelliousness and audacity. She had many lovers with whom she shared ideology and a satisfying erotic life. She spent time in prison, travelled through North American and Europe speaking for the cause. Initially she was excited by the Russian Revolution but ultimately disappointed in the authoritarianism of the Bosheviks.She lived to be 70, having also witnessed the Spanish Civil War, disappointed at the way the Republican leftist forces turned on each other. In spite of age and later infirmity, she never ceased proclaiming her resistance to authority. Gornick sums up her life: "She was not a thinker; she was an incarnation."...more

This is more of an essay/summary of Goldman's life, but I found it to be an interesting supplement after having read Goldman's own "Living My Life". Gornick is not always complimentary of Goldman's choices, and sometimes she interjects her own opinion directly in the narrative, which was at times executed a bit clumsily.

The chapter on Goldman's love affairs was rather critical and a bit on the condescending side, and this is also the chapter where the author asserted her own opinion most overtlThis is more of an essay/summary of Goldman's life, but I found it to be an interesting supplement after having read Goldman's own "Living My Life". Gornick is not always complimentary of Goldman's choices, and sometimes she interjects her own opinion directly in the narrative, which was at times executed a bit clumsily.

The chapter on Goldman's love affairs was rather critical and a bit on the condescending side, and this is also the chapter where the author asserted her own opinion most overtly -- I came away from this chapter with less of a feel for Goldman's views on love & sex and with more of a window into Gornick's view of such topics based on her reactions to Goldman's choices.

The strongest chapter, I felt, was the chapter on Goldman's exile from the United States and her disillusionment with the Bolshevik Revolution -- the isolation of being wanted by no country, and of being shut out by the Left of the time must have been incredibly difficult to bear after being such a beloved firebrand. With this chapter, Gornick was better able to approach the subject critically without resorting to awkward interjections. ...more

She may have started out in a stetl in Russia followed by the sweatshops of The Garment District in NYC, but Emma Goldman cannot be contained or defined by any geography, building, relationship, description. Hers is not your stereotypical Horatio Alger story. She was an original who defied brutal men, mealy-mouthed women, prison guards, deportation, hypocritical Leninists: she knew a Pharisee when she saw one with her laser mind and fearless soul. Truly an original and courageous human being, s She may have started out in a stetl in Russia followed by the sweatshops of The Garment District in NYC, but Emma Goldman cannot be contained or defined by any geography, building, relationship, description. Hers is not your stereotypical Horatio Alger story. She was an original who defied brutal men, mealy-mouthed women, prison guards, deportation, hypocritical Leninists: she knew a Pharisee when she saw one with her laser mind and fearless soul. Truly an original and courageous human being, she epitomized anarchism in its true definition: being true to one's creed even if one is thrown under numerous buses and imprisoned, vilified, demonized. . . like her soulmates Socrates, Jesus, Joan of Arc and numerous contemporary straight arrows -- none of whom serve in the Senate or House of Representatives or in the other brances of our Government. Emma would have had an anarchist cow if she lived now....nobody has a belief that he or she will defend to the death. There is always another face or two to pull out and wear. With Emma, you got what you saw and what you read. Molly Cyrus is a crack-pot, Mitch McConnell is a cracker-pot, Boener's magic mirror on the wall is just plain cracked even though it still croons that "he is the fairest of them all." We ought to launch a Crusade, a world-wide search for someone in Emma's league. She did not have great wit; she did not have beauty or jewels. I take that back: SHE HAD JEWELS!...more

I loved the way this book took me back to radical history of anarchism and related protests against capitalism, history we tend to forget. I've always been intrigued by Emma Goldman; now I know she's more fascinating than I could have guessed, and her story is connected to the panorama of history, which the author portrays so well. This is very engagingly written, lively, and a short, easy read.

This is a vivid accounting of Emma Goldman's life -- the turn of the century rebel/anarchist/lecturer/ -- who made the 'personal political.' Gornick takes the very compelling point of view that Goldman was as much about personal liberty as she was about the desire for -- decent working hours, protection from unfair working conditions, and all the other progressive ideas of the day we now so take for granted. Moreover, she was about being an individual, a woman who spoke her mind amid the men whoThis is a vivid accounting of Emma Goldman's life -- the turn of the century rebel/anarchist/lecturer/ -- who made the 'personal political.' Gornick takes the very compelling point of view that Goldman was as much about personal liberty as she was about the desire for -- decent working hours, protection from unfair working conditions, and all the other progressive ideas of the day we now so take for granted. Moreover, she was about being an individual, a woman who spoke her mind amid the men who dominated her private and public life. Gornick weaves in ideas from throughout the 20th century and offers us a 'real' Emma Goldman -- imperfect and passionate. From the standpoint of our 21st century political struggles of the 99% vs. 1% this short, pleasure of a read is very timely.Truly, author of LIE. ...more

Really inspiring. Fine writing. Fine analyses. Emphasizes the passion that Emma and the anarchist movement of the time possessed. Put the turn of the 19th century into an atmosphere of radicalism that I had never associated to it before.

I picked this up out of interest in Vivian Gornick rather than Emma Goldman, though I have wondered how the anarchist movement fits into American social history. I’m still not clear about that--it still seems like a European utopian import that is hard to grasp from this historical distance--but I enjoyed reading about Goldman. Hers is a rare case where as the biographical facts pile up, the subject seems more and more inexplicable, more like a force of nature. Part of the fascination is that heI picked this up out of interest in Vivian Gornick rather than Emma Goldman, though I have wondered how the anarchist movement fits into American social history. I’m still not clear about that--it still seems like a European utopian import that is hard to grasp from this historical distance--but I enjoyed reading about Goldman. Hers is a rare case where as the biographical facts pile up, the subject seems more and more inexplicable, more like a force of nature. Part of the fascination is that her personality and politics seemed synonymous a good 75 years before the idea that “the personal is political” gained currency....more

I love biography, and this one was an interesting departure from the usual presentation of a life. Gornick develops Goldman's life through analyses of her personality traits and passions. I was familiar with Goldman's life, having previously read a more traditional biography as well as Goldman's two-part autobiography; if I hadn't had that background, I think this book would have been a bit frustrating, trying to put together the whole of her life from this thematic approach. But it's well-writtI love biography, and this one was an interesting departure from the usual presentation of a life. Gornick develops Goldman's life through analyses of her personality traits and passions. I was familiar with Goldman's life, having previously read a more traditional biography as well as Goldman's two-part autobiography; if I hadn't had that background, I think this book would have been a bit frustrating, trying to put together the whole of her life from this thematic approach. But it's well-written, and because of its format (less than 150 pages?) there is no getting bogged down in details! ...more

This is not a straight-forward biography following a conventional linear progression of Goldman's life. Many readers will likely find this frustrating, but it does provide the reader with general themes in Goldman's life. I confess I didn't know much about her besides her name, but this book definitely made me want to read more about her and the other figures that populate this interesting little biography.

I love Vivian Gornick because I enjoy following her mind as she wends her way through a subject. Emma Goldman is a great subject, and Gornick's biography of Goldman is both informative and funny. Gornick doesn't hesitate to interject her own opinion, but even when critical of Goldman, Gornick's obvious affection and admiration for her subject fills the narrative with warmth and wit.

Very good description of Emma Goldman and how her passion was so strongly connected to her beliefs. Also a good number of names of early anarchists for evolution of anarchy. Mentions the Spanish revolution as the first place where anarchists were successful in democratizing industry, communes abandoning money.

Gornick's intention with this short book is not to provide complete coverage of Goldman's life and politcal work. Rather, she focuses on patterns of Goldman's emotional life, which was indeed tempestuous. The brief backmatter and lack of chronology make the book unsuitable as an introduction to Goldman.

I learned a great deal about Emma Goldman, but wasn't sure how much of the author's perspective I was imbibing, and how much of the real Emma Goldman. Like many biographies, a lot of it was very subjective, but now I would like to read Goldman's own memoir directly, with no intermediary.

Inspired me to read more about Emma Goldberg and this period of history, especially about anarchy, socialism, communism, unionism at the turn of the last century. Emma has a truly remarkable story and spirit!

Vivian Gornick is an American critic, essayist, and memoirist. For many years she wrote for the Village Voice. She currently teaches writing at The New School. For the 2007-2008 academic year, she will be a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University. She caused a controversy when she said that she had invented parts of Fierce Attachments, her largely autobiographicaDate of Birth: 1935

Vivian Gornick is an American critic, essayist, and memoirist. For many years she wrote for the Village Voice. She currently teaches writing at The New School. For the 2007-2008 academic year, she will be a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University. She caused a controversy when she said that she had invented parts of Fierce Attachments, her largely autobiographical work....more